Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Stock Price

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price target cut by Barclays from $217.00 to $142.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on ARES. Bank of America dropped their price target on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.62.

Ares Management Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $124.50 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $39.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management has a 52-week low of $110.63 and a 52-week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Equities analysts predict that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. This represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 67.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Management Company Profile

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.